


I Should Have Listened (Heavy Hearts)

by Neva_Borne



Series: Zutara Drabble December [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, Comfort, Drabble, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fire Nation, Fluff, Funeral, Mutual Pining, Older Zutara, One Shot, Regret, Sad, ZK Drabble December 2020, Zutara, heavy hearts, mostly angst, mutual acceptance, royal gardens, sorta - Freeform, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:34:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27859910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neva_Borne/pseuds/Neva_Borne
Summary: Losing someone you love is hard. Realizing you could have had it all if you had just listened to their advice is harder.Or,Katara comforts Zuko and they talk about what might have been.Written for Zutara Drabble December 2020.
Relationships: Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Zutara Drabble December [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035657
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26
Collections: ZK Drabble December 2020





	I Should Have Listened (Heavy Hearts)

She’s the first one to notice that he’s missing after the funeral, and when she leaves the others to find him, she knows exactly where to go.

The gardens that were in such a disarray when they had all arrived at the palace on the day of the comet have been carefully nurtured back to life. Flowers and bushes, ferns and moss, luscious trees and well-trimmed hedges now dominate the space that was once full of dead plants and dirt. The turtleduck pond, barely more than a muddy puddle when they’d first seen it, has been carefully resculpted and filled with her and Toph’s combined efforts.

It is there, at the edge of the pond, that she finds him. He is sitting cross legged, head bowed as he mechanically tears a piece of bread into pieces and tosses them towards the turtleducklings that swim before him.

“Hey,” she says softly, tucking herself into the space beside him and resting a hand on his arm. “Are you alright?”

He raises his golden eyes to her, and she doesn’t think she’s ever seen them filled with so much pain. She isn’t surprised when he shakes his head, so she wraps her arms around him and pulls her into him, tucking his head against her chest as she strokes his long hair, and rests her cheek against the top of his head. 

“I miss him.” The mumbled words pierce her heart and she swallows against the lump in her throat.

“I know,” she whispers, trying to make her voice as soothing as possible as she rocks back and forth gently. “But he loved you so, so much. He was so proud of you.”

“I don’t know what to do without him.” A sob escapes him.

She squeezes him gently. “You do what you’ve been doing. You continue to make him proud.”

He doesn’t answer, but after a while, the shaking of his body slows, steadies, and finally stops. And when he raises his head from her chest and wipes the tears from his face, he gives her a grateful smile. 

“You know,” he says, clearing his throat, “Uncle always said I should have married you instead of Mai.”

She can feel her heart breaking at his words, thinking back to that day she received the wedding invitation and feeling as though her world was crumbling.

“Why didn’t you?” She asks, breathlessly.

“I was young and stupid,” Zuko sighs. “But he was right.”

She doesn’t know what to say. Zuko is married to Mai. She is married to Aang. And Iroh is gone.

“We were all young and stupid,” she finally murmurs, that feeling of tightness in her chest that she always felt when she thought about Aang and Zuko returning stronger than ever.

He nods and tosses the last of the bread to the turtleducklings before standing and offering her his hand.

“Come on,” he sighs, pulling her to her feet. “We should get back to the others.”

It is with heavy hearts that the two of them walk slowly back inside the palace, side-by-side, their fingers just barely touching in the space between them.

Iroh was right, as always, she thinks. 

But now it is too late. And Iroh is gone.


End file.
